WATCH OUT:As Ohio State No Longer No. 1 In Updated Preseason College Football Rankings…….Read more
Like clockwork, college footballdelivered once again in 2024, including throughout the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
Despite wrapping up with a less-than-thrilling 34-23 Ohio State victory over Notre Dame, the newly expanded CFP proved worth the wait – and all the debates – giving fans a number of classic postseason matchups.
College football fans are still facing a grueling 162-day wait for the start of the 2025 season, and as we soon enter the grind of the offseason following the NFL draft, there’s not much to do except look ahead to how things might shape up this fall.
In January, shortly after the Buckeyes took down the Fighting Irish to win the CFP, Athlon Sports’ Steven Lassan released his ‘Way-Too-Early Top 25’ for next season – featuring Ohio State right where it left off at No. 1.
Ohio State’s duo of Howard and Smith is expected to be a lethal one, and OSU has the fourth-ranked recruiting class (247Sports) making its way to Columbus to add fuel to the fire.
At the time, though, Lassan did admit that there was a ‘small gap’ between the Buckeyes and his following four teams – Texas, Georgia, Penn State, Notre Dame and Oregon.
And in his newly released pre-spring 136 team rankings for 2025, Lassan appears to have had a change of heart, dropping Ryan Day’s team from his top overall spot.
Instead, he moved the reigning champs to No. 2, noting OSU has “holes to fill, so a repeat national championship won’t be easy.”
Taking over Lassan’s No. 1 spot are Arch Manning’s Longhorns, who fell to Ohio State 28-14 in last season’s CFP semifinal.
Lassan acknowledged that head coach Steve Sarkisian must address an offensive line that has four new starters, but he pointed to the start of the Manning era in Austin as a reason for having Texas at No. 1.
The ability to seamlessly insert Manning, who will be a junior in the fall after spending his first two seasons behind Quinn Ewers, into the depth chart is a big advantage for Sarkisian and offensive coordinator Kyle Flood. It’s a luxury that most programs, especially in the transfer portal era, don’t get. And Manning is not totally raw either – he saw some real playing time a season ago when Ewers was out with injury, completing 61-of-90 passes for 939 yards and nine passing touchdowns while adding four rushing scores.
However, ESPN’s Bill Connelly and his SP+ Rankings see things a bit differently heading into the spring, with Texas actually checking in at No. 7 in those rankings and Ohio State at No. 1.
Rounding out Lassan’s top five are Ohio State (2), Penn State (3), Georgia (4) and Notre Dame (5).
Here’s a look at Lassan’s entire top-25:
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